Placket closure for full-length garments



March 28, 1944. J, ELKES ,3 5, 8

7 PLACKET CLOSURE FOR FULL-LENGTH GARMENTS Filed Oct. 30, 1942 INVENTOR ATTOR Y5 Patented Mar. 28, 1944 PLAQKET CLOSURE FOR FULL-LENGTH GAR N S' Jacob Bikes, New York, N. Y assignor to Jos. S.

Cohen & Son's'Oc, Inc'.

D ation of Ne'wYbr New Y k, Y. a: apri- Application October 30, 1942, Serial No. 463,930

5 Claims.-

My present invention relates generally to garments, and has particular reference to certain improvements in a full-length garment, such as a dress, in which a side placket is arranged in the waist region.

The principal object of my invention is to provide an improved type of placket closure operating solely on the button-and-buttonhole principle, thereby avoiding the use of metallic slide fasteners or other relatively expensive or un available fasteners.

A more particular object of the invention is to provide a placket closure which is secure and reliable, neat and compact in nature, and conformable to the desired contours of the garment at the waist line. H

The use of buttons and buttonholes to provide for the closure of plackets or other slits or openings in garments or the like is, of course, an old expedient. However, such closures suffer from several disadvantages. For example, according to current styles, if any of the buttons remains visible when the structure is closed, the appearance of the garment is considered to be impaired. Ordinary methods of concealment of buttons, as in the customary construction of the fly on trousers or the like, are not sufficiently compact, and not sufiiciently simple in structural character, to. find practical applicability in the side placket of a full-length garment such as a dress.

Similarly, the visibility of a buttonhole, or any portion .of a buttonhole, when the placket is closed, is not desirable. If this shortcoming. is sought to be avoided by arranging the buttonholes longitudinally, the buttonholes have a tendency to spread and to release their engagement from the corresponding buttons, under transverse strain.

In accordance with my present invention, these and other disadvantages are avoided, and several new advantages are achieved, by a special design and mode of association of the several parts of the present improved placket closure.

One of the features of the present construction lies in the provision of a fly which is carried in a concealed manner by the front edge of the placket opening, and which carries one or more buttons in an inwardly-directed fashion on the under face of the fly, this button or buttons be: ing adapted to engage with a corresponding button hole or buttonholes provided on an underlying extension carried by the other edge of the placket. In this way, each button is at all times concealed from view.

usually Another feature of the present construction lies in the arrangement of each buttonhole in a substantially longitudinal direction with respect to the placket opening, so that the buttonhole also remains concealed at all times. The positioning of the buttonhole is of such a character, however, that even under transverse strain the button hole will not spread and will not disengage its corresponding button. This desirable result is achieved by arranging each buttonhole at a slight obliquity of approximately 30 to the longitudinal axis of the placket opening.

These and other features of the invention contribute toward the production of a placket closure whichis of simple and inexpensive character, attractive in appearance, and unusually efi'lcient in retaining the placket closed under all conditions.

I achieve the foregoing objects and advantages, and such other objects and advantages as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, in the manner illustratively exemplified in the ac companying drawing in' which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garment em,-

bodying the features of the present invention,

indicating the nature and appearance of the placket when the garment is worn;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 2.2 of Fig ure 1;

Figure '3 is an enlarged face View of the placket by itself, shown in open condition;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, taken from the inside of the garment;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the placket closed;

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional iew taken substantially along the line 65 of Figure 3;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatical view showing the preferred manner of constructing and attaching the fly; and Figure ,8 is an interior view showing the relationship of the parts when the placket is subjected to transverse strain.

I have chosen to illustrate the invention in connection with a flllirrlfin th a ment in the fo m of a woman's dress, thedress bfiing of such a structural character that a front section if] and a rear section I l are secured together along a side seam l2. This is a customary construction, but it will be understood that certain features .of my invention do not require that the front and back sections of thegarment be thus composed of separatesections. "At the waist region l3, the garcult, if not impossible, to secure a simple two-ply wardly-directed buttons I6 on its underface. In

the illustrated garment, I have shown a construe;- tion in which three such buttons are arranged in longitudinally spaced relationship, although" it will be understood that under certain circumstances only one or two buttons may be deemed sufficient, or more than three may be employed. The fly may be of relatively narrow character, I

and the buttons I6 are attached so that theywill be completely concealed beneath the fly I5.

Carried by the opposite or rear edge of the placket is an extension I! which is adapted to underlie the fly I and is provided with a corresponding set of buttonholes which, in the illustrated construction, are three in number. The extension I! is necessarily of greater width than the fly I5, so as to afford adequate strength, but since it extends into a concealed position beneath the front section of the garment, any suitable or desired width may be employed.

In accordance with my invention, the front edge of the placket is provided with a flap which overlaps and completely conceals the fly l5 at all times. More particularly, it will be observed that the front edge of the placket I4 is formed of two plies. The outer ply is integral with the front section II] of the garment, and is turned in at the edge of the placket. Secured beneath this is a facing strip I8 whose outer edge is also turned in, these turned-in outer edges being secured together bythe concealed row of stitches I9. The facing strip I8 is secured in place, at the rear, by the row of stitching 20. This prov-ides a flap beneath which the fly I5 is concealed.

It is a feature of my invention "to construct this fly in such a way that it will be of only twoply thickness throughout. This is accomplished by employing an elongated strip which is doubled upon itself along a longitudinal line 2 I. This line defines the outer edge of the fly, and the'two plies are held together at the rear, and the fly as a whole is secured to the placket, by means of the stitches 20. f

It is preferred that the fly I5 be composed of the same material as that of which thegarment is made. This results not only in economy of manufacture, but it permits the fly to embody a highly desirable thinness and avoids the necessity for employing extraneous materials'such as tape or the like.

One of the features of the present construction is illustrated in Figure 7. In this figure, the front section III is viewed from the insidaand it 'will be observed that the front edge of the placket III is slightly concaved. This is for thepur'pose of imparting the desired contour to the waist region of the garment. In forming and attaching the fly I5, the strip of material is so chosen that the warp threads are arranged transversely, as indicated by the arrow 22. These warp threads will thus be at right angles to the warp threads of the body of the garment as indicatedby the arrow 23. Accordingly, the fly I5 may be given dash lines of Figure '7, during the process of securing it, by the stitching 20, to the front section of the placket. It is assumed that the warp threads are the stronger threads of the woven material of which the fly is composed because this is the general nature of fabrics customarily employed in the production of garments such as dresses. If the fly I5 were formed of a piece of material in which the warp (i. e., the stronger) threads extended longitudinally, it would be diiiifolded-over strip, such as that constituting the present fly I5, into the desired curved association a slight curvature, as indicated. by the demand,-

with the placket.

The extension I! is preferably formed in a similar manner by employing a strip of material of suitable width and doubling it upon itself. At the rear, this doubled-back extension is secured to therear section I I by the stitches 24 and 25. The stitches 25 extend through to the front face, while the stitches 24 extend only through the turned back portion of the section II.

Provided in the extension I1 are a series of buttonholes 2B. In accordance with my invention, these buttonholes are arranged in a substantially longitudinal direction, but they are not truly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the placket. If they were, there would be'a tendency of each buttonhole to spread and release its engagement with the corresponding button I6 under transverse strain. On the other hand, if these buttonholes were arranged at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the placket, a transverse strain upon the placket might leave the rearward portions of the buttonholes exposed. In accordance with my invention, eachbuttonhole 26 is arranged at a slight obliquity to the placket axis. These inclinations may be approximately 30 to the placket axis, or less. In any even, each buttonhole is arranged at the same obliquity, so that the buttonholes'26 are substantially parallel to one another. Under conditions of transverse strain, one or more of the buttons I6 may have a tendency to shift toward the end of the corresponding buttonhole, as indicated in Figure 8, but in no case will there be any likelihood of the buttonhole spreading and releasing the button. Moreover, even under conditions of transverse strain, it will be observed that each buttonhole remains concealed, in its entirety, by the fly I5.

Needless to say, the buttons and the buttonholes are so arranged that when they are in engagement, the placket will be neatly closed to define a line which forms a smooth continuation of the side seam I2. Because of the special arrangement of the buttons and the buttonholes, and as a result of the special construction and attachment of the fly which carries the buttons, the placket, when closed, will present a neat, unobstrusive appearance, the curvature of the garment at the waist region will be of the contemplated character, and the buttons and buttonholes will not' only remain firmly securedto one another, but will remain completely concealed, atall times. v a e In general, it will be understood that thezde tails herein described and illustrated may i be modified by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit'and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims. i-It is therefore intended that these details be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. I

Having thus described inventiom 'and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a garment having a side placket in the waist region, a placket closure comprising a fly carried by the section of the garment on one side of said placket and having at least one inwardly directed button secured to its under side, and an extension carried by the section of the garment on the other side of said placket and adapted to underlie said fly and provided with a buttonhole positioned to receive said button when the placket is closed, said buttonhole being arranged obliquely relative to the length of the fly.

2. In a full-length garment having a side placket in the waist region, a placket closure comprising a fly carried by the front section of the garment and having a set of longitudinally spaced inwardly-directed buttons secured to its under side, and an extension carried by the back section of the garment and adapted to underlie said fly and provided with a corresponding set of buttonholes positioned to receive said buttons, respectively, when the placket is closed, each buttonhole being arranged at the same slight obliquity with respect to the longitudinal axis of said placket so that the buttonhole will not spread under transverse strain upon the placket, each buttonhole nevertheless remaining concealed in its entirety beneath said fly.

3. In a full-length garment having a side placket in the waist region, a placket closure comprising a fly carried by the front section of the garment and having at least one inwardlydirected button secured to its under side, and an extension carried by the back section of the garment and adapted to underlie said fly and provided with a buttonhole positioned to receive said button when the placket is closed, the front edge of said placket being slightly concaved so that the garment will have a corresponding contour in the waist region when the placket is closed, said fly conforming in contour to the concavity of said front edge, said fly comprising a strip of material doubled upon itself along a longitudinal line, the fold line defining the outer edge of said fly, the warp threads of the fly being arranged at right angles to said fold line.

4. In a full-length garment having a side placket in the waist region, a placket closure comprising a fly carried by the front section of the garment and having at least one inwardlydirected button secured to its under side, and an extension carried by the back section of the garment and adapted to underlie said fly and provided with a buttonhole positioned to receive said button when the placket is closed, the front edge of said placket being slightly concaved so that the garment will have a corresponding contour in the waist region when the placket is closed, said fly conforming in contour to the concavity of said front edge, said fly comprising a strip of material doubled upon itself along a longitudinal line, the fold line defining the outer edge of said fly, said strip being composed of the same material as that of the garment, the Warp threads of the fly being arranged however at right angles to said fold line.

5. In a full-length garment, such as a dress, in which front and back sections are connected by a side seam and in which there is a placket in the waist region aligned with said side seam, a placket closure comprising a fly carried in concealed position by the front section of the garment and having at least one inwardly-directed button secured to its under side, and an extension carried by the back section of the garment and adapted to underlie said fly and provided with a buttonhole positioned to receive said button when the placket is closed, said buttonhole being arranged at an-angle of approxi mately 30 with respect to said side seam so that it will not spread under transverse strain upon the placket and will nevertheless remain concealed in its entirety beneath said fly.

JACOB ELKES. 

